2023 Founder’s Award Celebration honoring Allan Edmunds, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Signe Wilkinson
On Saturday, October 21, 2023, please join us for an evening of performance, music, food, and drinks in honor of our 2023 Founder’s Award honorees Allan Edmunds, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Signe Wilkinson.
6–7 pm / Signature cocktail hour sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, with contributions from Bluecoat Gin and Yards Brewing Company in the Dene M. Louchheim Galleries with Dox to Light: The Life and Works of Dox Thrash on view
7–8 pm / Performance and Dinner catered by 12th Street Catering
8–8:30 pm / Awards Ceremony
Festive cocktail attire encouraged.
About the Honorees
Allan Edmunds is an artist, educator, and arts administrator. Edmunds was Founder-President Emeritus of the Brandywine Workshop and Archives from 1972 to 2022. He has received the National Endowment for the Arts and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Artists Fellowship Awards, and the New York City Print Center Award for Arts Administration. He was honored by the International Review of African American Art as one of 25 Who Made a Difference in American Art.
Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter is co-founder of The Roots, a critically acclaimed solo artist, actor, writer, producer, and an alum of our Saturday arts program! Black Thought has delivered eleven applauded albums with The Roots, won four Grammy Awards and three NAACP Image Awards, and has been a beloved mainstay of late-night television since The Roots became The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s house band over a decade ago.
Signe Wilkinson is an editorial cartoonist, whose work for the Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News earned her a Pullitzer Prize. In addition to editorial work, Wilkinson helped start the renovation of Fair Hill Burial Ground in North Philadelphia where abolitionists and reformers including Lucretia Mott and Robert Purvis are buried. Famously, she was named “The Pennsylvania Vegetable Substitute” by the PA House of Representatives.
About the Founder’s Award Celebration
Fleisher Art Memorial’s largest annual fundraising event, The Founder’s Award Celebration recognizes individuals whose significant commitment to providing access to the arts, promoting excellence in creative expression, and enriching Philadelphia’s cultural resources reflects the values of our founder, Samuel S. Fleisher.
Founder’s Award Host Committee
Barbara Beck & Lawrence E. Eichel / Jolley Bruce Christman / Deborah Louchheim / Glenmede Trust Company / Holland & Knight, LLP / Deborah Louchheim / John & Susan Louchheim / Liz Price, Arnold Weiss / The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
Steering Committee
Lindsay Bedford / Suzanne Becker / Bill Brookover / Bill Meinel / Danielle Louchheim Geraci / Mark B. Goodheart / Thora Jacobson / John Wind
Parking is available in Fleisher Art Memorial’s parking lot, located on the south side of Catharine Street, opposite the main entrance. Fleisher Art Memorial is ADA accessible.
Image: Past, Present, and Future Sanctuary (detail) by Ash Limés Castellana